Sarries vs Wasps (Incl. Team News)

By ChiswickWasp
October 7 2016

Wasps team to face Saracens at Allianz Park

Director of Rugby Dai Young has named his side to face Saracens at Allianz Park this Sunday, kick off 3pm.

Club captain Joe Launchbury makes a welcome return to the matchday squad after time out with injury, taking a spot among the replacements. Jimmy Gopperth will be the fourth player to captain the side this season, as he takes on the duties until Launchbury enters the action.

The backline remains unchanged from last weekend, with Elliot Daly set to make his 100th Aviva Premiership appearance.

There are four personnel changes in the pack. In the front row, Simon McIntyre stars at loosehead with Matt Mullan moving to the bench, Tommy Taylor comes in at hooker with Ashley Johnson shifting to the back row. Marty Moore starts at tighthead, with Jake Cooper-Woolley named among the replacements. In the back row, Thomas Young starts at openside.

Alongside Joe Launchbury on the bench, there’s a place for Tom Cruse, who comes into the matchday 23 for the first time this season, in line for his club Premiership debut, as well as a spot for Alex Rieder.

Ahead of Wasps’ trip to Allianz Park to take on the champions, Young said:

“I’m really pleased with the start we’ve made and the exciting part is, I still think there’s more to come from the team - there are a few areas we need to improve on. We’re nowhere near the finished article and we’ve ridden our luck on occasions this season, like Northampton away, but I think we were better last weekend and deserved that win.

“This game on Sunday will be a massive test for us and will really show us how far we’ve come since the end of last season or how much work there is still to do. We played Sarries in the European Champions Cup Semi Final last season and they were worthy winners. We probably came second best in most departments. It will be interesting to see how much we’ve improved and whether we have closed that gap and whether we can really push them.”

Sean Maitland returns to the Saracens line-up to start at full-back. The summer recruit from London Irish slots in the Sarries back three in the number fifteen jersey with Chris Wyles reverting to his customary left-wing position. Mike Ellery continues on the right wing.

Skipper Brad Barritt continues at inside centre for the Men in Black and he is joined by Marcelo Bosch in the Sarries midfield. In halves, Alex Lozowskki continues at fly-half to face former club and he is partnered by Richard Wigglesworth who comes in at scrumhalf.

Up front, Mako Vunipola is joined by Schalk Brits and Juan Figallo in the front-row, whilst England duo Maro Itoje and George Kruis pack down in the second-row. Schalk Burger continues at openside flanker and is joined by Michael Rhodes and Billy Vunipola in the Sarries back-row.

Speaking ahead of the game, Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: “Wasps have quality throughout their squad and will pose us a significant challenge. However this kind of test that brings out the best in our group and I know the players are tremendously excited about Sunday’s game."

I think Wasps are the marginal favourites here even though it is at Allianz Park. Saracens priority needs to be the opening game in the Champions Cup against Toulon. Slightly less pressure on Wasps against Zebre.

NomadicScotI think Wasps are the marginal favourites here even though it is at Allianz Park. Saracens priority needs to be the opening game in the Champions Cup against Toulon. Slightly less pressure on Wasps against Zebre.

I think it's certainly a big factor for Sarries .... the game on Sunday will likely have no great bearing on either side come the end of the season (other than confidence now)!but their visit to Toulon next week is a tough task and will shape the euro campaign for them. I should imagine they will be very conscious of keeping players as fresh as possible on a Sunday. Zebre for us 'should' be straightforward but that said we don't want it to be a banana skin ! .... Europe often throws some very unexpected results.

It's gonna be tough to play our own game if Carley isn't willing to referee offsides at the breakdown. Not getting at Carley specifically but for all the praise Sarries get for their stifling defence it's largely based on the fact that they play on, and at key moments, over the line of what's allowable without ever getting penalised.

Never heard a commentator tell one team the gossip they heard about the other sides HT team talk. Fairly obvious what we'd try to do, but that seemed a little inappropriate. Perhaps we'll ignore the BT team next time they come sniffing.

The moment we lost it for me was when 5 pts down we broke down the left got with 10-15 metres and instead of spinning it wide to the right next phase with Wade in plenty of space we went attritional and gave Sarries a chance to regather. For all of our clinical performances recently much work still to be done.

Hopefully today will have helped us learn how to beat them later in the season.

Sarries good for their win, but I don't think it'll be the same story at the Ricoh. Every time we were in the red zone they gave away penalties, and continued to do so after a warning, with no card (not even another warning). Would have been nice to see a yellow go their way, doubt it would have changed the winning side though.

Thought we played well to be honest, need to get used to that pressure from the defence.

Ref aside we didn't play well. Think losing Taylor hurt us. Cruse looked okay but this match was suited to Taylor. How on earth Sorries didn't get a yellow at the start of the 2nd half following the refs warning is beyond me. But that is perhaps the mark of champions, they play over the edge and get away with it. Not to worry, plenty of season left to go.

Decent performance but ultimately unable to impose your own game. Still think you and Sarries are miles ahead of the other teams in the AP and should expect to finish the season 1 and 2. All the best for Europe next week.

I think we did play fairly well actually. A few too many knock ons early on, and it took us a bit of time to adapt to the pressure, but we did, and we were making yards in attack. Lots of penalties given away by sarries in the red zone is a testament to us giving them a hard time.

In the end, their power game was what really beat us, along with the breakdown, think our injuries won't have helped us there, hopefully we'll have a few more backrow available next time round.

Reffing doenst mean much for me today. We were totally outmuscled and out thought.

Too many times wasps players are giving away real stupid, soft breakdown penalties around the halfway line when there's just no need to take the risk, and from them, sarries pushed deep into our 22 and never let up.

Add that to all the knock ons and just weak carrying into contact allowing turnovers and we definitely didn't respect the ball.

Poor.

Plus points - cruse had a good game, though obviously needs to work on his line out to make the long throw an option.

Cips had a very good game - real shame about that one missed touch though as that was one of a number of needless let offs.

Myall and reider did lots of good physical stuff.

Good to see launch not taking any @#$%& from ref's as captain. Our captains have too often been far too polite.

Negatives....potential injuries to myall and Kyle.

Just allowing ourselves to be rushed and hassled by an abrasive defence.

Just the way we lost all fight in the last 15.

One to think on - this was the first time the gopps at 12 tactic didn't really pay off. Not on him especially, but it was the first time I've wanted to see a fully fit Leiua or wished we still had siale standing at 12. I wonder if guy and Sam had been fit that would still have been the case as we just lacked that bit of impact - only really ash was getting over the gain line consistently.

We got out-muscled today.
Give me a season ticket at Wasps rather than Saracens any day of the week, but they are effective at suffocating and bulldozing.

To lose Taylor, Thompson and Jones in one week (some of our most abrasive ball carriers) definitely had an effect. We got bludgeoned in the final third of the game.

What is about Saracens?
I always struggle to applaud them.
Rugby is part of the entertainment industry.
Yes...we may come second to them overall...but the highs and tries we experience this season will far outweigh winning in the abrasive style they do (in my humble opinion).

Well done Sarries.
Wasps...we will learn from this game, but I hope it doesn't dampen the way we play the game.

I'll take it. A good indication of where we are as a club. We're very good, but we're not there yet.

Sarries outmuscled us. They defend with an incredible intensity. As Kev said, you wonder what we'd have done with Jones and Thompson but that's not to say that we didn't compete. We just came off second best.

Bleating about Carley misses the point. He may not have had a good match but in my view, he didn't impact the result.

We'd have taken this at the start of the season. Our position after each week has been 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 1st and now 2nd. With some of our injured players heading back in the next month or two, we're in a very good place.

Despite them missing Farrell and Goode, I think we suffered more from absences. Guy and Sam have been outstanding this season and when we lost Taylor too that was pretty disruptive.

Carley specifically was his usual lousy self but not the reason we lost. Possibly helped the scoreline look more dramatic than it needed. My problem is more how Sarries are reffed generally. Their Wolfpack defence they are so proud of relies so frequently on being offside and if refs aren't willing to penalize this then surely other teams need to play them at their own game, or at least flag it to officials before the match.

That said Sarries sheer power, determination, consistency and coordination is something to behold. Itoje, whilst developing into quite a dirty player, is also a freakish specimen that is almost unplayable at times. I've never seen anyone relieve the ball in the way he did from Rieder. I would say "rip" but that suggests a contest! Amazing!

To be fair I had it with Carley when Itoje picks up the ball in a ruck when Carley clearly said "No black, let it come to white".....why the flying f#@$ did he awarded Sarecens a scrum and not a penalty to us is beyond me it's not like he was stood right there or anything fffs.. Anyway had it not been for a poor show by Carley and Co I'd wouldn't mind the lost so much and would've enjoy the game a bit more

For all our forwards tried to front up today there is a time and a place to put your ego to the side. The rucks proceeding Bassets break were so so so stupid. Simpson should have been yelling and pushing the forwards off that ball and sent it wide to our backs in space. That was the turning point. The score would have put us in front but we bottle it and lose possession. Not how Wasps play but once again we got sucked into trying to beat Sarries at their own game... when will we learn? Besides that I think we were second best in every other area.
I would chip in about how Barnes (or Doyle) should have been reffing this game and not bristol. It's plain to see how poor the standard of refereeing is in the Aviva but prior to this we were still unbeaten so to blame the ref is an easy way out.

One of the key stages of the game today...was just after we had scored our try, Dan Robson picked up a knock to his leg.
Or a strain.

As a result, he arrived late to a ruck in the 39th minute...and wasn't given any other option than to box-kick.
His box kick was slow and weak (not surprisingly because of his injury) and he got charged down.
Very un-Dan like.
With a poor kick and Dan hobbling and not able to re-align defensively they subsequently scored a try just before half time out wide.

I wish he had just kicked it straight into touch from the ruck and received treatment or got subbed.

I was at the game and thought it was very intense for the first 6o mins and that Wasps dropped off a bit towards the end. Some very sensible, knowledgable posters on here,but also some who have their heads buried in the sand where Sarries are concerned.

Thought Ashley J was tremendous and some flashes of brilliance from Cips.

Funny how opposing supporters see the ref in different light. I thought Carley allowed Wasps to come in from the side to clears rucks for the entire match, but the man in the middle tends to be the one we all agree had a poor match. Watching it again usually proves us all wrong too.

Pluses from today - Highbury Saracen did not invade our site and bored us to death after the Majeski semi final.
Negatives - we got beat like the SM, just got suffocated and never ever got our back line attacking.
So we have a far stronger team, better all round game, yet again let Sarries dictate matters.
Sarries were magnificent, less boring than normal, and deserved it. If we ever will get to the top we need to be able to impose ourselves and unleash our threats. I don't think Daly, Wade or any back got the ball in space to attack once
Too depressed to comment further. Save for well done Sarries

See, I don't think we played well at all. That's one if the things I'm most frustrated about. You can't be off your game by even 5% against a team like Sarries, or you'll suffer. They're just too good, and showed it today.

Launch back chatting the ref?! Captain - making sure he gets his point across. Walks away instea did engaging in an argument and the ref calls him back to go another round. No different to Barritt.

Thjngs that wound me up.....

Actually just one. Sarries are a good team. A very good team. They're impressive to watch. They're supplying England with a roster of world class and potentially world class players and if England do win a World Cup
Or beat the all blacks I'm betting a lot of that will be thanks to the Barnet lot. Both the boys on the field but also the ones putting the infrastructure in place to nurture talent and improve already talented 'poached' (tongue in cheek here) olayers like Billy and Loz who are clearly better now than they were with wasps. For all that there's a lot to want to like about sarries - or at least respect about them.

So why do they insist on doing incredibly unlikeable thjngs (as a club not a team) like launching into full crowd singalong mode over the tannoy when the match isn't over. I know Chiefs took offence a few years ago to the fat lady singing and it still annoys me. Sure use your crowd (and tannoy - I know we do) to drum up home support. It is a home game after all. But can you really not wait until the 80th minute to launch into sweet Caroline? It's a bit like the Mexican wave in my view in that it's disrespectful of the 30 guys going through hell on the pitch as it says 'the crowd aren't interested in you any more' but it's worse because it's also a victory taunt in a contest that's not over.

Personally I find that as mindless and needless as when wasps have some stupid stuff like playing what's new pussycat as tigers run out. Someone in sarries marketing team needs to get in line with Eveything else that's so good about that club.

Commiserations on the loss, last year was one of the only home games I missed, was horrifying listening to it on the radio how you ripped us into pieces so I think that memory helped or players today, really hope the last game of the season at the Ricoh is not one we need to win.

Sweet Caroline is always belted out sometime around the 70th minute and always during a break in play. Not sure if we do it if we're losing! Not saying it's right or wrong but i enjoy it and would honestly still enjoy it at oppo' ground if we were losing.

A decent effort for 60 or so minutes but Wasps paid for not scoring the 2 or 3 half chances they created. If you are going to beat Saracens are going to have to score 3 or 4 tries against them to force them out of their comfort zone. Other than that Wasps scrummaging and mauling wasn't good enough and in loose forward play Saracens were both more physical and cynical.

Not the end of the World by any means and plenty to work on. Get Sarries on the open expanses at the Ricoh or Twickenham and Wasps can give them a run for their money.

Also I pity the Saracen's season ticket holders. Saracens might be brutally effective but they are pretty terrible to watch. Apart from when they play Wasps I rarely watch them play. Today's game vindicated that decision.

Beckenham BanditA decent effort for 60 or so minutes but Wasps paid for not scoring the 2 or 3 half chances they created. If you are going to beat Saracens are going to have to score 3 or 4 tries against them to force them out of their comfort zone. Other than that Wasps scrummaging and mauling wasn't good enough and in loose forward play Saracens were both more physical and cynical.
Not the end of the World by any means and plenty to work on. Get Sarries on the open expanses at the Ricoh or Twickenham and Wasps can give them a run for their money.

Also I pity the Saracen's season ticket holders. Saracens might be brutally effective but they are pretty terrible to watch. Apart from when they play Wasps I rarely watch them play. Today's game vindicated that decision.

Home now from the game .... haven't watched it back yet .... but what I do know is that it wasn't the ref, the music or anyone cheating that lost us the game ! !!

No shame in losing that one, we had chances and they didn't work out ... that's how the dice roll sometimes ! Sarries were good for their win .... so for me let's move on ... my only concern is the amount of injuries and knocks we are now accumulating.... but at least we now have the depth to put out a good side to take on Zebre at home and let a few recover for the following week.

The winning bubble had to burst and it's no bad thing for it to be against last seasons double champions !!

Why would you pity a season ticket holder of the champions of Europe and England? If they are being honest most people would prioritise winning over everything else. I'm the first to admit I'd like Sarries to be more adventurous at times and move the ball rather than kick chase, but if you asked me if I'd swap it for winning, no way.

I'm full of admiration for the way Wasps play, and at its best, as against Quins, it's mighty effective even on 35%-40% possession and territory. But you have to do it against the Cleremonts and Toulons, and dare I say it, Sarries, before you can start feeling sorry for me.

I've watched plenty of pretty Sarries teams and individuals over the years to know which I prefer.

Like most on this page i thought that the more powerful team won today and always felt like we were holding on a bit throughout the game. Once Sarries stopped kicking it in the last 20 minutes they looked very good. Always hate losing of course but mostly enjoyed the day out and chats with Sarries fans.

I watched from the lower tier of the West Stand and now realise why that area is mostly away supporters since the view of the game is just not that good. The close up action that we did see though often involved Itoje and he was everwhere. I know that he plays on or over the edge but come six nations etc England fans will be quite happy for him to play that way.

Overall thought we played pretty well and gave full effort. I would have loved to see Sam and Guy on the pitch because they do give us something different this season.

Yep, lousy view from W16. Couldn't see anything without looking at the big screen. Might as well have watched it on BT Sport. Still think we need our forwards to be nastier and generally obnoxious, respectfully copying the Sarries style if necessary. We look too nice if that makes sense. Not sure Sarries were 3 tries and a BP win better than us but we just have to take it and learn from it.

Sarries were really good today, much can be made of their missing backs but the ball barely goes past 9 anyway so i don't think they would have made much difference. You have to admire how 60 mins with the game on the line, they (well their pack) turned up and took the game by the scruff of the neck.

They were very physical up front, the vunipolas rumbled well & we were just a few degrees too high in contact a bit too often.

However, I really think that we are getting there. For 60 minutes we were more than in this, we definitely have a plan that I think will work. It was noticeable how we wanted to attack the blind side early in phase play in the second half and it looked promising. If the ball bounced for Danny the right way I think we would have gone on to win or lose by 7.

It needs to be remembered our pack is decimated by injury currently. We were missing a 6,7,8 who are, were or should be in the England squad. Equally Tommy Taylor is crucial to how we play as is Myall (I don't think Launch was 100% to come on today) Against the best pack in the league/Europe this was always going to be stretch.

Sarries were good for their win and deserved it, but Carley was utterly dreadful. Watching him talk down to Launch was like watching me argue with my girlfriend. Launch did the right thing, agreed Carley was right, turned away to end it & yet Carley just kept going. That's unacceptable for a referee, he did the same at Saints if i remember rightly.

The thing that annoys me most about Carley is he doesn't talk to the players during play to help the game flow. You watch Barnes & Owens ref (The fact that barnes wasn't refereeing todays game was an absolute joke) and they are constantly talking to players at the ruck, resulting in less foul play and a more free flowing, better game for the spectator. Carley keeps silent and blows the whistle, CMK & Pearce are the same. The young pups need to learn we are there to watch the players play rugby, not them walk around making up for their years of hardship in the boys dorm.

Overall I reckon we had 3 real positives from today.

I thought Symons & Myall went really well together whilst they were on the pitch & Danny provided us with a glimpse of how we may go on to break these tighter defences down.

We were so jittery at the start and so inaccurate in the first half yet we were competitive for a long period at the home of the european champions.

I know this means nothing but a quick browse on twitter and all the boys are saying the right things. Joe Simpson sums it up that one loss doesn't make us a bad side. This could be a great loss to help refocus everyone on how hard it's going to be to win silverware this year.

Eric BrowettWhy would you pity a season ticket holder of the champions of Europe and England? If they are being honest most people would prioritise winning over everything else. I'm the first to admit I'd like Sarries to be more adventurous at times and move the ball rather than kick chase, but if you asked me if I'd swap it for winning, no way.
I'm full of admiration for the way Wasps play, and at its best, as against Quins, it's mighty effective even on 35%-40% possession and territory. But you have to do it against the Cleremonts and Toulons, and dare I say it, Sarries, before you can start feeling sorry for me.

I've watched plenty of pretty Sarries teams and individuals over the years to know which I prefer.

Why do I pity Sarries supporters? Well they have to watch Saracens play every week and I don't enjoy watching Saracens play. So much so I tend to avoid watching them if they are on TV. High intensity rucking and defence and Wigglesworth kicking the leather off the ball just isn't very enjoyable to watch. I really do struggle to sit through 80 minutes of that sort of stuff.

Bizarrely, if BB is accepted as a hugely knowledgable rugby expert, I enjoy watching Sarries win especially against the best opposition, in which I include the current Wasps team. I enjoy the physical confrontation in the game and when Sarries are able to release a highly talented collection of backs I enjoy watching them run in the tries that others say aren't scored. Clearly, like Eric, I'm a philistine.
I wish Wasps well for the season and I suspect we will see you again at the business end in one or more competitions which I will approach with the same degree of trepidation that I did this match. Meanwhile thanks for the company of the Wasps supporters who joined us at AP today, all very friendly and good company

Sarrie North (formerly South and Rous)Bizarrely, if BB is accepted as a hugely knowledgable rugby expert, I enjoy watching Sarries win especially against the best opposition, in which I include the current Wasps team. I enjoy the physical confrontation in the game and when Sarries are able to release a highly talented collection of backs I enjoy watching them run in the tries that others say aren't scored. Clearly, like Eric, I'm a philistine.
I wish Wasps well for the season and I suspect we will see you again at the business end in one or more competitions which I will approach with the same degree of trepidation that I did this match. Meanwhile thanks for the company of the Wasps supporters who joined us at AP today, all very friendly and good company

Just a personal opinion but I and many others don't enjoy watching Saracens play. Not sure why Sarries fans get so upset by that. If you just care about winning fine but many people watch rugby for entertainment.

WaspieKevYep, lousy view from W16. Couldn't see anything without looking at the big screen. Might as well have watched it on BT Sport. Still think we need our forwards to be nastier and generally obnoxious, respectfully copying the Sarries style if necessary. We look too nice if that makes sense. Not sure Sarries were 3 tries and a BP win better than us but we just have to take it and learn from it.

I can't speak to the view from W16 but otherwise spot on. Fancy stuff is all well and good when you've earned your field position but as a game plan it will not win trophies. Just look how Leicester won their dozens of titles: nasty and obnoxious does the job over the season, every time (and winning is ultimately the best entertainment).

Having said that, you are correct, the scoreline flattered Sarries who rode their luck: George dropped it over the line for his first try, and the yellow card was a joke.

Nothing against some people disliking our playing style, but accusations of "boring Sarries" have been inaccurate for at least 2 or 3 seasons at this point.

As a Sarries STH I obviously am a big fan of watching us win, but I always greatly enjoy watching us play - whether they be massive runs from our back row, amazing snatched balls from wonderboy locks and cross-hands to cross-kicks from our backs.

Regarding heavy territory kicking in the game, I should say that you guys are to blame for that - the original planned style was far more running (like last quarter), but on Friday your chosen back row was more physical than expected and so the team prepped for a more kicking game!

...So if you guys would have agreed to be less good we could have just run at you more

Eric BrowettSweet Caroline is always belted out sometime around the 70th minute and always during a break in play. Not sure if we do it if we're losing! Not saying it's right or wrong but i enjoy it and would honestly still enjoy it at oppo' ground if we were losing.

A bit disappointing but I think Dai can now have a really good look at his options now he doesnt have the pressure of having to keep with the winning line up (which is great but can be restrictive when you want to get a look at your entire squad)

Missed Tommy Taylor...I can understand why Ashley wasnt used at 2 having trained at 6 all week but maybe he would have been a better option, not a bad shift from Cruse really but Sarries had him on toast tbh

Gopps looks tired, Cips looked like he was trying to play 10 & 12 at times

only two tv'sThe thing that annoys me most about Carley is he doesn't talk to the players during play to help the game flow.

From having access to the ref mic, I can confirm that Carley's communication with the players was really good. Constant talking about what he wanted, clear in his instructions, often having quiet little words with players at the next break in play. Let down by his assistant referee who told him to give an undeserved yellow card to Bassett, but otherwise a very impressive display.

Rubzundeserved yellow card to Bassett, but otherwise a very impressive display.

It's very difficult to justify any tackle which is illegal in the NFL being anything less than a yellow!

Not sure what the NFL has got to do with it ?

The key for me is that Bassetts tackle was hands on the shoulders and by definition was not necessarily a dangerous tackle (which is AROUND the head or neck) it was just a high tackle, therefore could have been just a pen or at the very least use the TMO rather then relying on the AR's recollection of a quick incident. What made it look worse was Simpson taking his legs out.

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